Holders: Leander Club
Entries: 15 – to be reduced to 12 by qualifying races
Seven of the 15 entries have been pre-qualified by the Stewards and they are predominantly the national team quads.
China will probably start as favourites for this event. They won at the Poznan World Cup and were silver medallists in Belgrade. Their crew includes three of the boat that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, Yunxia Chen, Yang Lyu and Xiao Tong Cui. The fourth member of the crew is Shiyu Lu, she raced in the W4- in Tokyo.
Great Britain (racing as Leander Club & Edinburgh University) had a good World Cup when racing as two doubles (winning silver and bronze – the first time GB had won two medals in the W2X at a World Cup), but when they came together as a quad they were a fraction off the pace, ending up fourth. The crew is Lucy Glover, Jess Leyden, Georgie Brayshaw and Lola Anderson. Anderson and Brayshaw finished first and second at the GB Final trials (although neither Leyden nor Glover competed). Anderson was a member of the U23 W4x that won the World Championships last year and made her senior debut at the final World Cup of 2021, winning an outstanding bronze medal in the W1X. Brayshaw made her senior debut in 2019 placing 16th in the W2X at the second World Cup. Leyden missed out on a place in the Tokyo quad having raced in that boat class throughout the Olympiad, including winning a World Championship bronze in 2017. Glover is a three-time U23 World Champion and made her senior debut in 2021 winning a silver medal in the quad at the European Championships and then placing seventh at the Tokyo Olympics.
Leander have a second boat that has pre-qualified with a crew of Ella Toa, Natasha Harris-White, Anna Grace and Rosa Thomson. Harris-White and Thomson were in the Leander crew that won Championship quads at Women’s Henley. Harris-White made her international debut for GB at the final World Cup of 2019 racing in the GBR2 W8 that finished seventh. Ella Toa is a graduate of Rutgers University and raced for New Zealand at the 2019 U23 World Championships.
Australia have made one change to the crew that finished fourth at the Poznan World Cup, with Tara Rigney (who won bronze in the W1X at the World Cup) replacing Georgie Gleeson. Rigney raced in the W2X in Tokyo winning the B-Final. The crew has two of the boat that raced to a bronze medal in Tokyo, Rowena Meredith and Harriet Hudson. The last member of the crew is Kathryn Rowan from the Sydney University club and raced in the Australian U23 team finishing sixth in the BW8 in 2018.
There is a second pre-qualified boat from Australia, Australian National University and Huon Rowing Club. This is a Lightweight development crew with Maggie Foley, Sophie Jerepetritis, Eve Mure and Alexandra Moylan. Foley, from Mercyhurst College, was 2019 state champion and an U23 trialist. Jerepetritis was the 2022 LW2X National Champion with Eve Mure from Huon Rowing Club finishing one place behind her. Moylan raced at the 2019 Trans-Tasman Regatta.
New Zealand (racing as Waiariki) make one change to the crew that finished eighth at the Poznan World Cup. Charlotte Spence replaces Kristen Froude and joins Katie Haines, Georgia Nugent-O’Leary and Stella Clayton-Greene. Nugent-O’Leary is the most experienced of the crew, she was in the quad at the Olympics that finished eighth. The rest of the crew are all made their senior international debuts in Poznan. Kate Haines, from Waikato, raced in the U23 BW4- in 2019 finishing fifth, and Spence raced in the W1X in Poznan finishing 11th. The final member of the crew is Stella Clayton-Greene. She hails from Hauraki Plains Rowing Club and was a member of the New Zealand Junior team in 2018 winning a bronze medal in the JW2X. The kiwi boat is definitely a work in progress and the team are using the Poznan World Cup and Henley to try different combinations.
The USA (racing as Cambridge Boat Club and Crafstbury Green Racing Project) all raced in various combinations at the Poznan World Cup. Maggie Fellows made her World Rowing debut at the World Cup finishing ninth in the W1X. Emily Delleman and Emily Kallfelz also made their senior debuts in Poznan having both raced on the US U23 team in 2019. They raced together in the W2X finishing fifth, and Sophie Vitas also raced in the W2X (with Kara Kohler) picking up a bronze medal. Vitas is the only member of the crew with previous senior international racing experience having been a member of the W4X that finished seventh at the 2019 World Championships. As with the Waiariki boat, this is a crew in development and may well struggle against China, Australia and Leander/Edinburgh.
The Stewards have decided that the two US Collegiate crews are both required to qualify. Brown look to have the edge over their compatriots from the University of California, Berkeley having beaten then in the quarter final of Championship quads at Henley Women’s Regatta. Brown’s crew is made up of half of their second Varsity Eight that finished seventh at the NCAA’s; Bridget O’Callahan, Emily Jaudon, Freya Keto and Ruby O’Keefe. Cal’s crew has Aussie Jane Perrignon and Brit Della Luke from the Cal Second Varsity Eight along with Dutchwoman Tabo Stekelenburg and Germany’s Annabel Oertel (who raced in the senior German team at the 2019 World Championships).
Leander Club’s B crew are also required to qualify and will be one of the favourites to grab on of the two available slots. Their crew is Seun Olubodun, Xanthe Weatherhead, Michelle Truax and Ruth Siddorn. Leander finished first and second at the Metropolitan Regatta with a mix of their A and B Henley crews. The B crew is stroked by Ruth Siddorn who represented Great Britain at the 2019 World Championships in the W2X. At three is former Canadian senior international Michelle Truax (who rowed in the W4- at the 2016 World Championships).
The other crews that need to race qualifiers on Friday are Exeter University, second in the C-Final at the Metropolitan Regatta. Reading University, second in Intermediate Quads at the British University Championships and eighth at the Met, Thames Rowing Club, ninth at the Met, and a GB Start crew racing as Twickenham rowing Club & Reading Rowing Club.
Predictions: The draw should place China and the Leander/Edinburgh on opposite sides, and I expect these two crews to be fighting it out on Sunday. But, I think it’ll be the Tom Kay coached Chinese quad that wins.
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